Two autograph letters signed Portuguese Prime Minister Marquis of Palmela 1828

PALMELA, Pedro de Sousa Holstein, Marquis of (1781-1850). Two autograph letters, 22 and 27 March 1828, concerning membership and visitors to the Travellers Club, London.
 
Two single sheets folded, each approximately 190 x 230 mm, written on one side. Old folds, light handling and occasional staining, including two stains towards the upper margin of the first letter; both complete and clearly legible. Very Good overall.
 
The first, dated 22 March 1828 and addressed to club secretary Charles Beloe, concerns Palmela's own membership of the Travellers Club. He explains that the invitation previously obtained for him has expired and asks Beloe to place a renewal before the committee. The second, written five days later, asks that invitations be extended to four Portuguese gentlemen, whom Palmela lists as the Marquis de Fronteira, the Conde de Villa Flor, the Conde de Sampayo and Mr de Souza Holstein. Both retain brief contemporary administrative endorsements at the head, apparently recording the Club's approval.
 
Founded in 1819 in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, the Travellers Club was intended both for British gentlemen who had travelled extensively abroad and for distinguished foreign visitors. Its early rules required prospective members to have travelled outside the British Isles to a point at least 500 miles from London in a direct line. Charles Beloe served as secretary until 1828, when he was succeeded by Samuel Weller Singer, placing these letters in the year of that administrative transition.
 
Palmela was one of the leading Portuguese statesmen and diplomats of his generation, later becoming Duke of Palmela and serving several times as Prime Minister of Portugal.